Kitware Believes In Being Open

Our Commitment to Open Science

Openness leads to innovation. That’s why we are committed to the practice of open science, which relies on open source software, open data, and open access publications. We believe that open science fosters rapid innovation, fair comparison of technologies, and provides an ideal resource for educating technologists of the future. We believe open science is critical to the future of scientific computing and AI. 

Our Focus on Open Collaboration

We’re known for our transparent, honest interactions with customers and collaborators. We’re upfront and clear about what we’re certain we can accomplish, and what is a research effort with a less certain outcome. Our top priority is to deliver results and customized solutions that provide value—not to sell people something that they don’t want or need. 

We offer flexible, customer-controlled licensing options. During our contracting process, we’ll work with you to decide which option is the best fit for your needs:

• Open Science Technologies: we can develop technologies that are shared publicly with permissive licensing and without licensing fees. When a customer chooses to contribute some or all of their developments back to open science, they benefit from the continuous improvements made and shared among the open source community, thereby reducing future update and maintenance costs.
• Open IP Technologies: Open IP, or Open Intellectual Property, refers to platforms and solutions that can be shared among specific sets of authorized users but not the general public. When permitted, Kitware provides all software and data developed on government contracts with unlimited rights to the government. This allows us to provide cutting-edge solutions to our government customers without licensing restrictions and at a reduced rate, facilitating re-use and adding value.  
• Proprietary Technologies: when keeping the technology open is not a feasible option, we can develop closed technologies over which customers remain in full control. 

Our Investment in Open Platforms 

Actively developing open source platforms and supporting open source communities is part of Kitware’s DNA. For 20+ years, our well-established platforms have made world-wide impacts on technical innovation. We continue to invest our time and resources into improving our open source platforms to ensure their long-term sustainability and success.